How much do social media sites actually track us?

Have you ever found yourself immersed in social media content, only to encounter an advertisement for a product or service that instantly piques your interest? If so, you’re likely familiar with the impulsive urge to make a purchase.

Instagram, through its integrations with Facebook, uses your personal information to show you adverts that it believes you’ll be mostly likely to click on. This information comes from what you do within the app and Facebook, your phone and your behavior as you move around parts of the web that Facebook doesn’t own.

Matt Burgess

Recent revelations shed light on Instagram’s comprehensive monitoring practices within their platform. Indeed, Instagram meticulously tracks user activity, capturing a broad spectrum of interactions—from engagements such as liking posts to late-night perusals of specific profiles. This continuous surveillance, while initially concerning, serves a dual purpose, offering both scrutiny and safeguarding benefits.

The attentive monitoring undertaken by Instagram extends beyond mere observation, encompassing proactive measures to safeguard user accounts. By scrutinizing the devices used for logging in, Instagram endeavors to thwart potential hacking attempts, ensuring the integrity of user profiles. For instance, instances of receiving a “Is this really you?” email prompt may be attributed to this vigilant monitoring.

Moreover, this tracking mechanism is not confined solely to Instagram but extends across affiliated platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, and others. This collaborative effort enables the identification and mitigation of suspicious login attempts, bolstering overall cybersecurity. Additionally, tracking serves a vital role in the resolution of technical issues, including bug fixes and crash reports, thus contributing to the platform’s stability and user experience enhancement. Despite the advantages brought forth by tracking mechanisms, users currently lack definitive methods to evade such surveillance. Short of deleting the application entirely, users find themselves with limited recourse in mitigating tracking practices.

In a recent study conducted by Ivan Dimitrov of ‘Cloud P’, an investigation was undertaken to ascertain the extent to which various applications encroach upon users’ personal privacy. The findings of this study have yielded startling revelations.

Among the prominent platforms scrutinized, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn emerged as primary contenders in the realm of data intrusion. YouTube, for instance, was found to share a substantial 52% of user data with third-party entities, a practice not uncommon in contemporary digital ecosystems. With further examination unearthed a tiered landscape of data management practices among applications. Noteworthy examples include Klarna, Grub Hub, and Uber, which maintain repositories of user data to facilitate personalized recommendations and streamline transactional processes. Such practices, while aimed at enhancing user experience, underscore the nuanced intricacies of data stewardship within modern digital landscapes.

Some of the more reserved data platforms such as Netflix, Etsy, and Zoom, distinguished by demonstrate a judicious balance between functionality and privacy preservation, setting a commendable precedent amidst an increasingly data-centric paradigm.

Some of the most shared informations are as follows…

Personally Identifiable Information, Location, Phone calls and texts, Various social media interactions, device information, Device Information, Finical Information. – Xiph Cyber

As of 2021

In conclusion, the apps of today will continue tracking us throughout time. The best suggestions are to change your privacy settings and make sure to close apps after use to help guard their tracking.